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city directory Special Collections Division

Main Library
60 South High Street, Akron, OH 44326
(330) 643-9030

Historic Akron City Directories

City Directories can be excellent sources of information about Akron and surrounding areas. These directories list the people living in the Akron area as well as local businesses. In many cases, the entry for a person provides spousal and employment information. Entries for businesses frequently provide the names of the corporate officers. Many city directories also contain a section listing the residents by address instead of name. This is very useful when researching the history of your house. The directories were usually published annually.

Each directory has been scanned and the digital images subjected to an optical character recognition (OCR) process to make each searchable. Because the directories in some cases are very old, the text has faded and, while it is still readable to the human eye, the OCR process might not be as effective. In order to find the entry you are interested in, you may have to browse the volume.

The directories listed below are in Adobe’s Portable Document Format. A free reader is available from Adobe at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. The file size of each directory is listed and large files may take several minutes to load even with a fast connection. If you have trouble opening the files, you may want to download them. You can right-click on the link and select "save target" to download.

City Directory 1859 (17 meg)
City Directory 1868 (13 meg)
City Directory 1871 (6 meg)
City Directory 1873-1874 (5 meg)
City Directory 1875 (8 meg)
City Directory 1877-1878 (10 meg)
City Directory 1879 -1880 (18 meg)
City Directory 1881-1882 (17 meg)
City Directory 1882-1883 (15 meg)
City Directory 1883-1884 (22 meg)
City Directory 1885 (20 meg)
City Directory 1885-1886 (22 meg)
City Directory 1887 (28 meg)
City Directory 1887-1888 (20 meg)
City Directory 1888-1889 (25 meg)
City Directory 1890-1891 (22 meg)
City Directory 1891-1892 (20 meg)
City Directory 1892-1893 (22 meg)
City Directory 1893-1894 (22 meg)
City Directory 1894 (22 meg)
City Directory 1895 (23 meg)
City Directory 1896 (24 meg)
City Directory 1897 (24 meg)
City Directory 1898 (23 meg)
City Directory 1899 (25 meg)
City Directory 1900 (27 meg)
City Directory 1901 (30 meg)
City Directory 1902 (34 meg)
City Directory 1903 (39 meg)
City Directory 1904 (35 meg)
City Directory 1905 (37 meg)
City Directory 1906 (40 meg)
City Directory 1907 (53 meg)
City Directory 1908 (90 meg)
City Directory 1909 (48 meg)
City Directory 1910 vol. 1 (82 meg)
City Directory 1910 vol. 2 (34 meg)
City Directory 1911 (61 med)
City Directory 1912 (56 meg)
City Directory 1913 (64 meg)
City Directory 1914 (70 meg)
City Directory 1915 (67 meg)
City Directory 1916 vol. 1 (40 meg)
City Directory 1916 vol. 2 (44 meg)
City Directory 1917 vol. 1 (48 meg)
City Directory 1917 vol. 2 (56 meg)
City Directory 1918 (79 meg)
City Directory 1919 (81 meg)

City Directory 1920 (75 meg)
City Directory 1922 (71 meg)
City Directory 1924 (86 meg)
City Directory 1925 (83 meg)
City Directory 1926 (91 meg)
City Directory 1928 vol. 1 (60 meg)
City Directory 1928 vol. 2 (39 meg)
City Directory 1930 vol. 1 (67 meg)
City Directory 1930 vol. 2 (40 meg)
City Directory 1931 vol. 1 (53 meg)
City Directory 1931 vol. 2 (59 meg)
City Directory 1933 (96 meg)
City Directory 1934-1935 (95 meg)
City Directory 1937 (95 meg)
City Directory 1938-1939 vol. 1 (77 meg)
City Directory 1938-1939 vol. 2 (25 meg)
City Directory 1939-1940 vol. 1 (70 meg)
City Directory 1939-1940 vol. 2 (31 meg)
City Directory 1941 vol. 1 (75 meg)
City Directory 1941 vol. 2 (33 meg)
City Directory 1943 vol. 1 (84 meg)
City Directory 1943 vol. 2 (39 meg)
City Directory 1946 vol. 1 (65 meg)
City Directory 1946 vol. 2 (68 meg)
City Directory 1948-1949 vol. 1 (66 meg)
City Directory 1948-1949 vol. 2 (68 meg)
City Directory 1950-1951 vol. 1 (65 meg)
City Directory 1950-1951 vol. 2 (80 meg)
City Directory 1952-1953 vol. 1 (55 meg)
City Directory 1952-1953 vol. 2 (61 meg)
City Directory 1954-1955 vol. 1 (66 meg)
City Directory 1954-1955 vol. 2 (79 meg)
City Directory 1956-1957 vol. 1 (59 meg)
City Directory 1956-1957 vol. 2 (68 meg)
City Directory 1958-1959 vol. 1 (64 meg)
City Directory 1958-1959 vol. 2 (77 meg)
City Directory 1960-1961 vol. 1 (64 meg)
City Directory 1960-1961 vol. 2 (75 meg)
City Directory 1962-1963 vol. 1 (63 meg)
City Directory 1962-1963 vol. 2 (66 meg)
City Directory 1964 -1965 vol. 1 (63 meg)
City Directory 1964 -1965 vol. 2 (64 meg)
City Directory 1966-1967 vol. 1 (58 meg)
City Directory 1966-1967 vol. 2 (61 meg)
City Directory 1968-1969 vol. 1 (62 meg)
City Directory 1968-1969 vol. 2 (79 meg)